Delivery of health programs and funding needs to flow through First Nations
From Kenora Daily Miner and News at http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com./story.php?id=234216
Health money should flow through First Nations: chief
By Mike Aiken - Kenora Miner and News, June 2, 2006
Shoal Lake 39 Chief John Wapioke would rather see public health money flow through the band council, than the public health unit.
Speaking just days after Northwestern Health Unit medical officer of health Dr. Pete Sarsfield spoke out against the gap in services between aboriginal communities and cities, Wapioke agreed with the assessment.
However, he would rather see his own health director allocate the funds.
“He would know best where the needs of the community are,” Wapioke argued.
As he winds up his battle with restaurant owners over smoking, Sarsfield is getting ready for another campaign against the province, the federal government and possibly the city over public health. This would include money for such things as flu shots, health inspections and emergency procedures in the case of a bird flu pandemic.
The chief noted he helped found the Kenora Area Health Access Centre many years ago, so it could help serve the needs of residents. There is also the Kenora Chiefs Advisory Service, along with health policy advisors for both the band and Treaty 3.
Wapioke would also like to see more preventive services within the community, so elders wouldn’t have to live in homes in Kenora where they may feel isolated from their friends and families.
“They don’t seem to live as long,” said Wapioke.
Instead of a pitched battle over jurisdiction, the chief hoped to see partnerships formed so that whatever resources made available may be use most efficiently.
He vividly remembered the day his uncle had a stroke. By chance, the nurse practitioner from the health access centre was visiting, and she helped stabilize the patient. Through a further coincidence, a doctor was also visiting the reserve, and he helped transport him to Kenora for further care.
Together, the medical staff offered an ideal example of how partnerships can work seamlessly together, he noted.
Other players at the reserve level include community health nurses from the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Health Canada, who work in the same building as the health portfolio staff from the band.
However, with so much demand, space is already being rented in buildings as far away as Longbow Lake, in an effort to ensure proper treatment for residents.